LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Harold Gough WALLER
Service No: 400072
Born: Albury NSW, 21 January 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 May 1940 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 39 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 39 Squadron Maryland aircraft AH361), Central Mediterranean, 22 August 1941, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Hubert Hansard Waller and Alice Campbell Waller; husband of Barbara Louise Carr Waller, of Swansea, Tasmania, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Column 246, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0558 hours on 22 August 1941 Maryland AH361 took off from Fuka satellite airfield (Malta) on a reconnaissance over the Tobruk-Bardia road area and landing grounds. The aircraft did not return to base after this mission. It was originally reported that the aircraft was missing believed to have forced landed, but there was no definite evidence to confirm this, and it was considered that its loss was due to enemy action. Following post war enquiries and investigations it was recorded in 1948 that the crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of AH361 were:
Sergeant Cecil Keith Berriman (402102) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Samuel Alexander McClean Crothers (521631) (RAF) (Gunner)
Sergeant Gordon Murray Holstead (943237) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Harold Gough Waller (400072) (Observer)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/176/146